He spoke in halting English, sometimes a whisper, pressing his flock to be stewards of the Earth — a familiar Catholic homily delivered with the bearing of a humble parish priest.
In place of the faithful, though, were dress Marines, a color guard, trumpeters and a chorale, and the leader of the free world, assembled in front of 11,000 people outside the White House.
Pope Francis opened his unprecedented conversation with the United States on Wednesday by contrasting the pomp of his Washington welcome with a message conveyed in a pastor's gentle tone: The time has come to preserve the planet.